36 Hours
by Clinique
Summary: Thanks to Rin's antics Haru needs stitches, and now he can't get wet. At all. For 36 hours…! How will he do it? Why, with a little (a lot of) help from his friends of course! [RinxHaru]
1. In stitches

**Title**: 36 Hours  
**Rating**: K+ (for now. But it is romance, so... yes, it'll most likely go up)

**Author's note**: this story is inspired by real events, from the time I got stitches after an accident and couldn't get water on it for at least 36 hours. And I thought wow, what if Haru had to suffer through that? Haha, and then this story happened ;D

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The great thing about having Rin back was the surge of enthusiasm and energy he always brought with him into everything he did, which effectively meant that the fun was back. He had been made Iwatobi swimclub's very first and very only honorary member – very special, very exclusive.

The other great thing about having Rin back was the effect he had on Haru. It could be hard to tell if you didn't know him, but he smiled his little almost-smiles a lot more often, and according to Rei his form never looked more beautiful than when he got to swim with Rin.

Another thing that was back though, was Rin's constant attempts of teasing any and every reaction he could out of Haru. One memorable afternoon he had caught Haru and made them all tickle him until he finally, actually laughed!

Another time when Haru had simply refused to get out of the water after practice, he had really went and stolen the girls' volleyball net and hauled his water-loving friend out of the pool like a tuna fish. Or perhaps more accurately, a dolphin.  
The others had laughed so hard that Nagisa's nose had started to bleed, and the scene had been immortalized by the very same in magic marker and hung up in the locker rooms.

As happy as he was about the current state of things, Makoto felt compelled to act the part of mother hen from time to time and as Rin was hauling Haru out of the pool in the volleyball net, he'd admonished them to be careful lest someone get hurt.

Rin and Haru had always been like this, but they weren't exactly kids anymore and Rin was taller, heavier and stronger now.

And, of course, before the first week was up, something really did happen.

It had been an accident, honestly. Really, Rin hadn't meant for it to happen.

On their way to practice one Saturday morning he had lifted Haru up in his arms like a baby with the intension of throwing him into the pool, fully clothed. But then he had slipped and dropped him. Haru had landed hard on his back right on the sharp edge of the pool, and when they pulled up his shirt a few hectic moments later there was a deep gash there, right where his spine curved slightly inwards.

And that was how it started.

Haru's 36 hours of pure Hell…

.

"Shit, shit, shit…" Rin had buried his face between his knees and was cursing occasionally under his breath in a tortured voice.  
"Relax Rin," Nagisa patted him happily on the back, "He'll be fine. You'll see!"

They were sitting in the doctor's office, all of them, waiting for Haru to come out. Makoto had bought them all drinks from the vending machine and was handing them out. "Hate to say I told you so. But I'm sure he's fine," he added, "It always bleeds a lot from the back."

"No it doesn't," corrected Rei, who had brought along his English homework. "But the fact that he was able to walk is a fairly good sign. At least nothing's broken."

But Rin was inconsolable. "He's gonna hate me forever for this… I'm the worst person… Fuck."

Makoto opened his mouth to say something nice, but was interrupted by a door opening. _The_ door. Haru!

While Haru was indeed walking and definitely alive… he didn't really look alive. His face was very pale and he was practically shuffling like a zombie after the nurse, who kept shooting him worried glances.

"Ah, you must be his friends," the nurse said with relief. "Look, this isn't really protocol, but… I'm not sure if we got through to him in there. We had to stitch him back together – nothing big, 12 stitches to the back." Here Rin cringed visibly. "Now, your friend will be just fine, we told him that. Nothing to worry about. But," and here she shot Haru another nervous look, "He absolutely can't get wet."

Behind her the muscles of Haru's shell-shocked face gave a small twitch.

"Oh…" Makoto scratched his neck slowly. "So, no water then? At all?"

"Umh, yes. This was the difficult part in there. I'm not sure he understood the doctor." The nurse sighed. "We weren't able to get a reaction from him after that, which is why I'm telling you. His wound is not dangerous, but if it gets infected it could potentially get very bad. Please be good friends and help him, will you?"

Nagisa's jaw dropped. "Keep _Haru_ out of the _water_?!"  
"Well, I suppose it is possible," mumbled Rei uncertainly, "In theory…"  
Rin was biting his own fist, looking almost as crushed as Haru. Almost. "Oh shit, shit, shit. I'm so sorry Haru!"

"Well then, thank you boys," said the nurse with a smile. "He can come back in a week's time and well remove the stitches. Do remind him, will you?"

In the background Nagisa was waving his hands in front of Haru's unresponsive face. "Haru? Ha-ru-chan? Time to go now!"  
"Haru! Haru, I'm sorry!" Beside him Rin was hanging his head.

"Yes, of course, thank you for everything," said Makoto and bowed politely.

.

"Ahem! I hereby declare the Let's-see-if-we-can-find-ways-to-keep-Haru-alive-and-dry-meeting for opened!"

Nobody knew when, but by the time they were out of the hospital Nagisa suddenly had a colorful, handmade poster in his hands. As usual the title of the meeting took up the entire page. Nagisa felt it was pointless to call meetings unless everyone involved knew _exactly_ what the topic of discussion was.

He also felt it was pointless to have group discussions unless they were called meetings.

They had sat down in the grass in one of the parks on their way back to Iwatobi high school. Haru had not said a word.

"So! Anyone?" urged Nagisa, "What if we filled up an inflatable kiddy-pool and he could just stand in it?"

At this Rin finally laughed, for the first time since his horrible slip that morning. "As if! You know his clothes come off the second he sees a water container larger than a bucket."

"Hehe yeah, we researched that, didn't we Makoto?" laughed Nagisa. "But that's fine though, he can still stand in the pool in his swimsuit right?"

"I'm pretty sure that constitutes as torture in the case of Haru," interjected Makoto, who was trying hopelessly to make Haru take the soft drink he'd bought for him. "I think we should just take his mind off swimming for the day," he managed to wedge the can in between Haru's stiff fingers. "It's a Saturday, so we have the day off anyway."

"What if we covered his back with duct tape?" suggested Nagisa, earning him a groan from Rei. "That makes no sense. How would we get it off again? You do know how stitches work, right?"  
"Oh yeah…"

"Know what?" Rin sat up and without a second glance swiped the can from Haru's hands – he'd opened it and was in the process of emptying it over his own head. "I'm with Makoto on this one. I say we're on Haru-watch today!"

"Yes. Especially you," said Rei, pointing a stern finger for emphasis. "It's because of you that this happened. You need to take responsibility for your actions."

"Shut up, I'm doing it now aren't I?"

The longest one-and-a-half day of Nanase Haruka's life had only just begun…

.

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**A/N**: So that was the first chapter of my first ever Free! fanfic. Umh, hope you like it! Reviews would be greatly appreciated :)


	2. A Clean Attempt

**Author's Note**: Wow, thanks guys! I was sure I wouldn't get a single review, much less favs and follows! You're awesome!

I should probably mention that several of the events I'm referencing in this story are from the short FrFr! episodes – such as Rin arranging a tickle fight to hear Haru's laughter, and Nagisa and Makoto doing research on how much water is needed for Haru to take his clothes off.

I've also chosen to use as little Japanese as possible, so Nitori calls Rin 'Matsuoka' in this, instead of 'senpai'.

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"I'm fine. Really. You can go."

One of the great things about Haru that Rin had almost forgotten about in the 4 years they'd been apart, was the effect Haru had on others. It wasn't charisma exactly – more like an aura. Something subtle.

Haru just kind of did his own thing and didn't even have to say anything and people would still flock to him and cool stuff happened.

"Of course not! Don't worry, Haru – "  
"I don't."  
" – we got your back! Eh, no pun intended."  
"Are you even listening to me?"

Like now. Of all of Rin's friends, Haru was the only one who could get slightly injured and somehow end up with an entourage hell-bent on entertaining him for 36 whole hours. On a Saturday.

Haru was magical.

"So what should we do?" Happily ignoring Haru's feeble protest as usual, Nagisa made a thoughtful face.  
"Well, how about we think of something Haru likes to do – other than swimming," suggested Makoto, "And start there?"

They were walking at a leisurely pace back towards the school. Nagisa had bought a cheap strawberry ice cream, and Makoto had one hand slung over Haru's shoulders and the other in his pocket.

"Yes, that's an excellent plan," Rei agreed, glancing quickly up from his book. He was memorizing English words, because one of his many talents was the ability to walk and read at the same time. "But… does Haru really have any other hobbies?"

"Umh, actually he likes cooking and cleaning," said Makoto, "Don't you Haru?"  
"Mmm… It's OK," muttered Haru reluctantly. He did enjoy cooking and cleaning, truth be told. But it was hard to concentrate when he felt so numb. No water, the nurse had said. _No_ water…

"Yeah, his house is huge, but it's always spotless!" Nagisa punched the air with his popsicle. "Good thinking, Makoto!"

"Hey, I know!" This suggestion apparently triggered something in Rin's memory circuits too. Casually he slung one arm across Haru's other shoulder, effectively sandwiching him between his two taller companions and Haru glared at them both in turn. "In that case, why don't we go to Samezuka? My room is always super messy during the weekend."

"Why? You're a neat freak too, Rin."

"Shut it. It's not me, it's my roomie," he sighed and pulled his fingers through his long hair. "I can barely find my own bed in there sometimes. Damn that Nitori."

.

While Rin had earned the prestigious title of Honorary Member at Iwatobi, Haru had in turn gained status as something of an idol himself at Samezuka. It wasn't his speed or skills, so much – it was simply that no one in the world moved the way Haru did in the water.

Whenever joint practices were held, some people always showed up just to watch Haru's freestyle. Or his warming up.  
Rin was pretty sure at least three guys in his club had a man-crush on him…

With this is mind they tried to sort of sneak Haru in through the back, the four of them. Haru seemed to be co-operating for the time being, even if he was acting a bit like a zombie, but who knew what might happen if one of his Samezuka-fans came along and told him to jump in the pool?

That part went smoothly actually, but the _other_ thing they had tried to avoid happened anyway…

"Oh, hey guys!" Mikoshima, the captain of the Samezuka swimming team, intercepted them just as they were approaching Rin and Nitori's dorm room. He looked at Haru, who was only wearing his swimsuit. "Oh, did you guys go for a swim or something?" Here Haru's face twitched. "Heh, you should've told me!"

"No," said Makoto with an exasperated smile, "But Haru saw your pool on the way in. We thought it would be OK since it was only a glimpse, but…" He lifted his arms, which were full of school uniform and sighed. "Apparently not."

In the background Rin was shoving a bucket and a mop into Haru's hands. "Here you go! Here's my room. Go crazy. And the porn's not mine," he added. Haru gave him one of his quiet, thoughtful stares. Then he looked down on the cleaning equipment.

At that moment Mikoshima suddenly caught sight of Haru's naked backside. "Woah! What happened to his _back_?"

The normally smooth skin on Haru's back was purple and blue and the stitches made it look a bit like someone had tried to draw the mouth of Frankenstein's monster on it. And done a really bad job of it.

"Rin threw him on the edge of the pool," supplied Nagisa with a big grin.  
"Don't you mean _off_ the edge?"  
"Nope, on it."

"Shut up!" snapped Rin, "Like hell I did! It was an accident, captain!"

"Umh, Matsuoka?" Suddenly Nitori had appeared behind them. He was wearing pajama pants and carrying a stack of books with a mug of tea balanced precariously on top. "Why does our bedroom smell like the swimming pool?" He peered into the room where Haru was busy polishing the windows.

"Is that Mr. Nanase?! Did he, uh, lose a bet or something? Why is he – oh my, what happened to his _back_?!"  
"Rin threw him on the –"  
"Shut up! And you shut up too, Nitori. He's cleaning. Makoto, why _does_ it smell like swimming pool all of a sudden?"

"Umh, our friend here went a little overboard with the chlorine," Makoto was trying to pry a large container out of Haru's hands. He'd been in the process of emptying the entire thing into the bucket. "Haru? Haru, give it back!"

"What? I like the smell. _You're_ the one who brought me here to clean!"

"But, but Matsuoka…? What about my stuff? My system –"

"You don't have a system. And relax, he's not throwing anything away. We're just trying to be nice to him because… because I threw him on the edge of the pool," he added in a quick, embarrassed mumble.

.

"Well, that was nice," Nagisa folded his hands behind his head. "And we even got to see Rin's room!"  
"Yes, it's inspiring to see someone who takes homework so seriously," said Rei with genuine admiration in his voice.  
"Who, Nitori?! Don't be fooled, it's _not_ all homework. He's a sweet kid really, but it's like he needs to see everything he owns in order to be comfortable."

"So what should we do now? Haru, do you have any ideas?"

"… No." Haru was staring at the ground. The cleaning had actually cheered him up a little bit. It was fun to finally see where Rin lived, and the smell of chlorine had been nice too. Now that he was back outside and fully dressed again though, the reality of his predicament was back like a rock in his stomach. No water…

He sighed hopelessly.

"Look…" Suddenly Rin's arm was around his shoulder again, and his voice was sincere. "I'm really sorry about this, OK? I didn't mean to hurt you. _Honestly_!"

Haru looked up at him and was about to give a sincere reply, but Nagisa beat him to it and completely ruined the moment.

"Yeah we know, Rin! Not like that time you tried to punch him during the finals," he laughed, "Or that time you guys raced, just before we started the swim club – I was so sure you were gonna strangle him in that pool!"  
"And didn't you slam him into a fence once, too?" Rei chimed in, "When we went shopping?"  
"Not to mention that time you made him quit swimming –" Makoto folded his arms sternly across his chest.

"Shut up! Don't list them all up like that!" Rin's cheeks were bright red now.

He opened his mouth to make another retort, but then he closed it again. Haru had just reached up and squeezed his hand. Just once, and he said nothing, but the gesture spoke volumes and Rin smiled instead and said nothing too.

This was the other great thing about Haru. One of the things that he had almost – _almost_ – forgotten about.

Magical Haru.

It lasted roughly 10 minutes. Then Haru started to show signs of severe abstinence…

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**AN**: And that was chapter 2! According to the wiki Haru's hobbies actually do include cooking and cleaning, so I'm not making this up.

Hope you still like it, and that you will grace me with a review. They make my day!

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	3. Your Guide to Breaking the Habit

**Author's Note**: Wah, thank you so much for your reviews! I'm so happy you like the story so far. Hope you like this chapter too. Also, if you don't already know, Free is scheduled to get a season 2… Yay!

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"OK, let's see here," Rei adjusted his glasses and looked up from his book. "Would you say that Haru has a _physical and/or mental dependence_ on water?"

He was looking at Makoto, but it was Rin who gave him the dumb look and answered, "Uh, yes? Obviously?"

"_Obviously_," Rei moved his index finger down along a page and looked suddenly very much like a teacher. "Hmm, I haven't run all the calculations yet. But in theory this should work approximately the same way as any other drug withdrawal," he shrugged.

"However, I've found no examples of withdrawal symptoms from recreational activities…"

"What about recreational drugs?" suggested Nagisa and pointed to a line in Rei's book. "Look, there!"

They had found a bench on the street just outside a candy shop, and Rei had found a book to consult. It was in his nature to do as much research as he possibly could before tackling any problem.

Never mind that the book in question was on substance abuse; _Your Guide to Breaking the Habit_.

"That's not – recreational drugs just means things like coffee and cigarettes. They're drugs that you take to enhance your state of happiness and that you can do as part of a social activity."

"Exactly!" Nagisa's optimistic expression didn't so much as flicker, "That's what swimming is to Haru."  
"I… huh. Well I suppose – no, that is _incorrect_!"

"Hey, quit trying to psycho-analyze me please," Haru sounded almost a little miffed, "I'm not addicted to anything. I just like the feel of the water."

This statement might have carried slightly more weight if he hadn't been sitting with his right arm half-submerged in a bucket of water, which Rin had found, kindly filled up for him and placed in his lap.

But Nagisa, who felt he might be on the verge of a breakthrough, wasn't listening. "So the answer is to make Haru start smoking?"  
"What, no! That makes no sense!"  
"Make… Haru drink more coffee?"

Haru rolled his eyes, although he was a little amused. He had absolutely no intention of taking up smoking.

"Well, I'm guessing Haru has absolutely no intention of taking up smoking," said Makoto, who could read his mind sometimes. "Does it say anything about what we _can_ do?"

He shot Haru and Haru's wet arm a slightly worried look – slightly worried, and more than a little incredulous. _Really, a bucket…?  
_Then he glanced up at Rin and marveled, once again, at the effect Rin had on Haru. Haru had actually given up swimming, given up _swimming pools_, because he'd hurt Rin's feelings…  
And here he was now, acting like an ex-addict after what, 4 hours?

"Umh," Rei returned to _Your Guide to Breaking the Habit_. "Keep the patient away from triggers that might _trigger_ a craving for the… We're kind of doing that already. Hmm, it depends a lot on the symptoms…"

He mumbled to himself as he read, which was something he often did whenever theory was involved.

"He's obviously not going to have a miscarriage…" Here Rin chuckled and poked Haru's flat stomach. "Could be fatal, but surely not in this case… Irritability, yes, trouble concentrating, yes… Haru, do you have a headache right now?"

Haru, who'd been in the process of ducking his entire head in the bucket twisted his head out of Rin's firm grip. "Not really."  
_Not yet_, he thought glumly. _God_ he wanted to swim!

"Oh hey, this we can use!" Nagisa pointed to a different section. "Other cravings might include hunger. Are you feeling hungry, Haru?" He winked, "I am!"

"Nagisa, I don't think you get how this works…"

.

"What? Do you _only_ eat mackerel?!"

They were in Haru's house and Rin was looking through the kitchen cupboards, his red eyes growing steadily wider. Makoto tried to hide his laughter. "Uh yeah, pretty much! Right, Haru?"

"My late grandmother used to say that insulting the cook before a meal is the stupidest thing one can do," said Haru ominously as he fished out a small frying pan.

"You're the ones who wanted me to cook for you."

Rin and Makoto looked at each other and shrugged. But Rin, who liked spicy food best, gathered all the spice containers he could find in his sweater before returning to the living room.

No way he was going to eat Haru's Mackerel-au-Naturale. Haru-watch or not.

He had spent some time in this house as a kid after he'd transferred, watching old grandmother Nanase cutting her vegetables and preparing mackerel for Haru. Catching fireflies in the garden, building forts in the living room with Haru and Makoto.

Now the house was Haru's.

Not all people would be able to live by themselves like this, but he suspected Haru probably enjoyed the peace and quiet.  
Besides, he was good at cooking and actually the place did look spotless, just like Nagisa had said.

He was struck by the crazy thought that Haru really should have been a girl – he was artistic, modest, liked to make food and keep things tidy, and he had that kind of cool, Japanese beauty. Pale, clear skin and perfectly black hair.

He was practically a walking wife-recipe!

"Rin? Why's your face all red?"  
"Shut up!"

.

It turned out that while Haru used mackerel like other people used rice in his meals, he was in fact quite adept at making it interesting.

He made miso soup with mackerel and tofu (good), fried the mackerel with eggplant (also good) and served it cold with whole slices of pineapple (not very good, but Haru ate all of it). That last one made Rei's face go a little green, though Rin couldn't tell why.

For desert he was actually going to make more mackerel – but they never found out exactly how he intended to do it, because Nagisa had anticipated this and bought roughly half a kilo of chocolate pocky and potato chips.  
It was obviously from the same candy store they had sat outside earlier, but no one knew when Nagisa had had time to go inside.

"Sho," Nagisa's mouth was full of chocolate, "feel better, Haru?"

"No." _Yes_… He did, actually. It wasn't that he was ungrateful but, quite irrationally, he was a tiny bit irritated that his friends knew him so well. And perhaps it was just because of what Rei had said, but he did feel a bit like he might be getting a headache.

But Haru's friends took Haru very seriously, and once he disappeared off to do the dishes – all offers of assistance were promptly refused – the discussion commenced!

"According to my research he should become fatigued pretty soon," whispered Rei. "I suggest we do our best to tire him out."

They sat in a circle on the floor, heads close together, whispering urgently and glancing over their shoulders at Haru.

"Yes, good idea!" chirped Nagisa. "But what about tonight though? Should he sleep alone when he's like this?"  
"No way," whispered Makoto. "I guarantee you he'll forget all about this and jump in the bathtub the second he wakes up. Every day I've come to pick him up for school, he's been in that tub."  
"Yes, habits can be very hard to break," agreed Rei. "I hate to be intrusive, but the best option might be to sleep over and keep an eye on him."

Behind them Haru rolled his eyes and sighed – did they really think they were being subtle…?

"I'll stay," whispered Rin and held his hand up solemnly, as if taking a vow. "I caused this. You said so yourself, so I'll take the responsibility."

Both Nagisa and Rei nodded their confirmation. "Yes, that seems fair."  
"Nice, Rin! We can come over in the morning with breakfast!"

Makoto did not nod. He was busy having flashbacks.

Rei and Nagisa hadn't been in their class back then so they didn't know what Rin and Haru had been like as kids, but Makoto could vividly recall all of their stupid ideas. One night together – _alone_ – would the house even be standing in the morning?  
He had a crazy vision of them making some stupid bet in the middle of the night and going off to get tattoos or something.  
He wouldn't put it past them.

Heck, they were only _in_ this situation because of the inexplicable, magical and potentially dangerous chemistry-mix of Rin and Haru.

One time they had both jumped from the highest diving board in the public pool, which could have seriously injured them if they had landed wrong.  
Another time when all the 5th graders had been measured, and Rin and Haru had been the same height, they had decided to settle who was the manliest when they grew up and the tallest of them would get to carry the other – princess style!

"Makoto…?"  
"Hey, Mako-chan? Are you… listening?"

Rin and Haru had been crazy about each other since day one, pretty much.

.

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**A/N**: note to self – researching withdrawal symptoms of drug abuse in class _will_ result in questions being asked…


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